Yate RFC v North Bristol 2/3's

On a sunny but windy September day Yate RFC welcomed a combined North Bristol team to YOSC to play a historic fixture, the first ever Yate RFC match. After only 9 weeks since the club was thought up, 30+ players have come aboard, an excellent venue hosting, sponsorship secured and an impressive new pitch meant the only thing left was to get out there and show everyone what the buzz was all about.

Excitement was building throughout the week and come game day, everyone was raring to go. A mixture of trepidation and eagerness during the warm up only added to the suspense.

The game kicked off (once the referee had found the ground) with North Bristol kicking off into a strong wind. The ball was secured the game was on. After a few frantic minutes a pattern began to emerge. Aggression and bravery from the pack winning good ball for Dai ‘beautiful’ Burgess to set his backs free. Good direct running from centres Tom Scott and Stewart ‘El Presidente’ Stacey helping to settle the nerves and get Yate on the front foot. A few kicks into North Bristol territory gave Yate a chance to put the pressure on deep into the opposition half. A real captain’s performance throughout from Neil Olive leading the way with some blistering runs and big hits making sure North Bristol knew we were serious and were not to be underestimated. Stewart ‘El Presidente’ Stacey continuing to batter the defensive line and make ground time after time. After about 15 minutes and some early scrum success for Yate, the ball was fed out along the line to James Cannon who came on to the ball at pace, made 20 yards before setting free one of Yate’s many rugby debutants Luke Lodge, with only one man to beat, this time he chose the smart option of going around the defender to go over the line unchallenged to become the first try scorer in Yate RFC history. An excellent conversion from the touchline added by James Cannon. 7-0 to Yate RFC.

Unsurprisingly North Bristol upped their game, using their larger, more experienced pack to pick and drive and make some ground. Despite some ferocious tackling and ‘cunning’ ground work by flankers Bernie McMullen and Ross Millington the pressure told with a forward carrying a couple of defenders over the line with him to level the scores. The conversion made making it 7-7. The next ten minutes flew by with the ball changing hands regularly both teams trying to impose on the other. Half time came slightly early due to a nasty injury to one of North’s pack. We wish him all the best. No complaints from the first half and a flurry of changes ready for the second half.

Reese O’Sullivan and Craig Archer came on adding some good looks and old fashioned brute force (in that order) to proceedings. After some end to end play with North beginning to utilize the wind in their favour now, the game became quite scrappy with both teams eager to impress with little ball in play. This sadly helped the larger North pack who were able to establish dominance up front. Despite the best efforts of the Yate front row, the experience of the North pack made life difficult. With sporadic possession there was little in the way of attack from Yate. A couple of tries scored from close range saw North pull away into a healthy lead. Tackling was still impressive from Yate and with Danny Harris haring round the pitch chopping men twice his size in half, an excellent second half performance leading to him being given a MOM award. A few more changes bought on some fresh legs, one of which was ladies man and dance floor demon Mark ‘Spillage’ Summerville who rolled back the years to show North we were not ready to throw in the towel. North unfortunately continued to pile on the pressure at scrum time and 3 more tries were conceded. 35-7 to North.

The last 20 minutes saw everybody get game time. A rampaging run from a North centre saw Gary ‘Smiler’ Cornish take a big hit, not perturbed he rose to his feet and scampered back bravely to bring the man down and save another North try, excellent determination which summed up the Yate performance. Jim Morgan and Reese O’Sullivan getting their hands on the ball and after a fleet-footed run by Reece (also securing MOM nomination), North were on the back foot. Debutant scrum-half Matt ‘BCFC’ Davies dug the ball out of a ruck to find Craig Archer who set about going straight through the North defence. To his surprise as much as everyone watching (a good crowd had gathered by this point) he had broken through and only had one man to beat. With the ever present Neil Olive on his shoulder he rounded the full back to go over under the posts. Converted by Bernie to make it 33-14.

The game ended shortly after and pride was the biggest emotion running through the team. Yate RFC had not only turned up, but they had given a long established, highly experienced side a good game. North Bristol full of compliments and encouragement for the future. Plenty of promise shown by the likes of Jason, Neil, Connor and Charlie
25 players turned out for Yate and although they have not all had a mention, they all played their part and set the benchmark for the future. Huge thanks to everyone who has helped make this possible, the team at YOSC for the facilities, Doug Hillard Sports for the kit and North Bristol for coming over for the game. Exciting times ahead for sure and I for one can’t wait to get back out there with my new rugby family!